Development of a low-cost remote sensor for ground-based solar radiation and related data measurement

Over the past three decades, solar energy has gained a lot of attention because of its energy potential and environmental-friendly aspect. To estimate its energy potential, most researchers use satellite approximation solar radiation data or imagery as their only data source, which is not sufficient as the images are taken high above the ground which results in the loss of the part of the resolution, and besides that, they also lack the hourly or daily variations, which is a critical component for an accurate estimation. This paper aims to provide the renewable energy research community with a low-cost and portable remote sensor for ground-based solar radiation and related data measurement. The remote sensor comprises a series of low-cost and accurate sensors, a single board computer, two Arduino micro-controllers, two Real Time Clocks, two mini-solar panels, an internet modem, two onboard batteries and six (6) relays, all interfaced in the Python Programming Language. The operation of the remote sensor is discussed in this paper along with a survey of its energy consumption. Data validation was done by comparing our recorded data with the Japan Weather Station data, and the result showed an accuracy of about 90%.